A Jar of Conversations
by Amanda Bornfree.
I entered her office.
Instead of a jar of candy, she had a jar of pretty strips of paper.
She offered me one. I pulled one out.
There were words on it:
“Where there is hunger and poverty, there is almost always poor access to maternal and child health care.”
And then we had a conversation about the 1,000 Days.
The 1,000 Days Jar is a useful tool for starting conversations about the 1,000 Days movement. It’s practical, creative, and fairly easy to make. Having conversations about the importance of maternal and child nutrition during the 1,000 day window between pregnancy and a child’s second birthday can be challenging at times. A 1,000 Days Jar can introduce the issue of maternal and child nutrition to those unfamiliar with it, or spark new conversations surrounding the 1,000 Days Movement.
What You Need:
- Computer and printer OR time and good penmanship
- Recycled colored paper
- Scissors or paper cutter
- A medium-sized jar of your liking, preferably a mason jar
- A location for the jar, such as an office desk, coffee table, etc.
- An informational list of nutritional facts and reasons why the 1,000 Days is important (provided below).
Steps:
- If using a computer, cut and paste the provided list to a document. If using pen and paper, write the list out by hand.
- If using a computer, print out the list.
- Cut out each statement.
- Fold each statement in half and put them in the jar.
- Place the jar in your location of choice.
Suggestions:
These suggestions may inspire more conversations on how to make a difference for the many women and children who don't get the proper nutrition during the critical window of 1,000 Days.
1. Create the 1,000 Days Jar with:
- Fellow church members during Sunday school
- Friends and family who don’t know about the 1,000 Days Movement
- Preteens and teenagers in your family
- The youth director at your church
2. Step it up:
- Either with a group or on your own, make jars for gifts and give them to friends, family members, or colleagues
- Add Bible verses and/or spiritual quotes about hunger to The 1,000 Days Jar
- Visit the Thousand Days website and check out their resources. Add additional facts to the Jar.
The informational list was gathered from the Thousand Days website. Below is a sample of some of the facts that can be used in a 1,000 Days Jar.
- Every hour of every day, 300 children die due to malnutrition.
- In 2008, eight of the world’s leading economists, including five Nobel Laureates, agreed that combating malnutrition was the best development investment.
- Children who are poorly nourished in the womb or before the age of two can suffer serious, often irreversible, physical and cognitive damage.
- 80 percent of the developing world’s undernourished children live in just 24 countries.
- In the developing world, 13 percent of children under five years old are wasted (they weigh too little for their height). Five percent, or 26 million children, are severely wasted.
- In developing countries, 16 percent of infants, or one in six, weigh less than 3.3 pounds (2,500 grams) at birth.
- Climate change could lead to 11-24 million more malnourished children in 2050.
- The right nutrition during the 1,000 Day window can save more than one million lives each year.
- The right nutrition during the 1,000 day window can significantly reduce the human and economic burden of diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS.
- The right nutrition during the 1,000 day window can reduce the risk for developing various non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, and other chronic conditions later in life.
- The right nutrition during the 1,000 day window can improve an individual’s educational achievement and earning potential.
- The right nutrition during the 1,000 day window can increase a country’s GDP by at least 2-3 percent annually.
For additional information check out Bread's fact sheet on child and maternal health.
Photo caption: A 1,000 Days Jar can introduce the issue of maternal and child nutrition to those unfamiliar with it, or spark new conversations surrounding the 1,000 Days Movement.
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This is such a wonderful blog post! Believe it or not, I hadn't heard of the 1,000 Days movement until stumbling across this post, and I'm glad to now know a little something about it. You can rest assured that I'm going to participate in the movement, and I've already made a list of what I need to get for my own 1,000 Days Jar.
Posted by: Margo (Bible Games Factory) on September 20, 2012 at 02:27 PM